---
kind: "section"
citation: "50 C.F.R. § 29.17"
title: "50"
number: "29.17"
heading: "Survey plat and legal description."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/50/29.17"
---

# §29.17. Survey plat and legal description.

- (a) Before the Service will issue or renew a right-of-way permit, the applicant must provide a final survey plat and legal description that shows and describes the right-of-way in such detail that the Service can accurately locate the right-of-way on the ground.
- (b) Survey plats and legal descriptions of the right-of-way area must be stamped and signed by a licensed professional land surveyor or other professional licensed or authorized by the State to carry out land-surveying activities.
  - (1) Survey plats must meet the following standards:
    - (i) Survey plats must be geodetically referenced to the current State or national datum. In some cases, new geodetic control points will need to be set within or near the right-of-way area.
    - (ii) Survey plats must show ties to the monuments marking the boundaries of the Service-owned land that the right-of-way would affect, or from which those boundaries are calculated. In cases such as road construction that involve allowing full control of the right-of-way area, a boundary survey is required.
    - (iii) The points where the right-of-way enters and leaves Service land must be annotated on the survey with distance ties to the nearest boundary monuments.
    - (iv) For a linear strip right-of-way, the courses and distances of the center line and the width of the right-of-way on each side of the center line must be annotated.
    - (v) If the right-of-way or site is located wholly within Service land, a minimum of two ties to boundary corners or geodetic control points that can be readily recovered must be shown.
    - (vi) Survey plats must show the existing or proposed facilities in sufficient detail that an average person can determine the nature and extent of the proposed use.
    - (vii) Survey plats must include all uses of Service-managed land required as part of the right-of-way, including access roads.
    - (viii) Survey plats must show the location of any other right-of-way areas in the vicinity.
    - (ix) Survey plats must show major natural or cultural features such as roads, rivers, fences, etc., required for orientation and intelligent interpretation.
    - (x) The acreage contained within the right-of-way area must be shown.
    - (xi) Letter-sized plats are preferred, but larger format plats, such as the right-of-way plan sets prepared for highway and utility projects, are acceptable if they meet the other requirements.
    - (xii) A digital version of the plat in AutoCAD, ArcGIS, or similar format must be submitted along with a signed paper or document prepared in Adobe Acrobat or similar process.
  - (2) **The legal description must—**
    - (i) Be in metes-and-bounds, aliquot parts, or linear strip format;
    - (ii) Conform to and reference the survey plat;
    - (iii) Be tied to the controlling monuments shown on the plat;
    - (iv) Reference the geodetic coordinates of the point of beginning or point of commencement, and have a clearly documented basis of bearing; and
    - (v) For linear corridor projects, use a “strip description” format, based on a geometrically defined centerline. For example: “All that portion of [land unit description] lying within the following described strip of land.”
- (c) A licensed Service land surveyor may waive the requirement of a survey plat for a proposed right-of-way in a remote location if they determine that the GPS coordinates and supporting location information submitted by the applicant for inclusion in the right-of-way permit are adequate to locate the proposed right-of-way with minimal risk to the United States.

## Notes

### Source

Source: 89 FR 99741, Dec. 11, 2024, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 16 U.S.C. 460k, 664, 668dd, 685, 690d, 715i, 725, 3161; 30 U.S.C. 185; 31 U.S.C. 3711, 9701; 40 U.S.C. 319; 43 U.S.C. 315a; 113 Stat. 1501A-140.

### Source

Source: 31 FR 16026, Dec. 15, 1966, unless otherwise noted.